Any goalies get sore knees?

How’s the week going? I am back in the swing of things in the gym after a great vacation. I cannot believe that the NHL regular season is almost over and that my summer hockey training will be revving back up in less than one month! Today I wanted to give you goalies some info about patellofemoral pain syndrome. Sounds bad, doesn’t it? The lucky thing is that it is not as fatal as it sounds and it is pretty common for hockey goalies to experience this injury or soreness during the season or during their off-season training. Check out the video below to know what it is, how it occurs and the simple steps you can take today to make it better.

Sorry for a pretty long video, but I want you to understand what causes it so you can see how these off-ice exercises can help you get past the pain and back to goaltending. If you are wondering how many of each exercise to do – here you go…

Hold all of the stretches for 30-50 seconds and do them twice per day

Start with 10 reps of the Clamshell exercise. Pause for three seconds at the top of the movement. Work your way up to 20 reps on each side. Start these every other day.

For the squat with abduction, start by taking 5 seconds to lower into the squat and 5 seconds to stand out of the squat. Start with 5 reps and build up to 15. Start these every other day.

Split squat with perfect alignment should take 3 seconds to lower into the squat and 3 seconds to come back up. Try 10 on each leg. Start these every other day.

7 Comments

Hey Maria,
What do you think of the option of unloading the squat and split squat if there is pain.
So instead of just doing the rom which is pain free you try to use a band or cable to take some body weight off your knees until you can achieve full rom.

Great video on patellofemoral pain….extremely educational. I’ve recently purchased the Ultimate Goalie Training Program for my 14 year son who is determined to be in top form for next season. We have been working out together focusing more on use of lighter resistance and mastery of proper technique. I am very conscientious of the fact that he is growing rapidly right now and want to ensure that we are protecting his joints, etc. Are there any exercises in the program that you would not recommend he perform? I have concerns about the deep squat flexibility exercises, for example, on his knees. Any tips? Loving your program so far…..

Thank you very much for purchasing the UGT – I really appreciate it! You are doing the right thing by focusing to learning proper technique using lighter loads in the beginning. That is exactly the right thing to do, you always want to keep a ‘long term development’ perspective. This is the first of his many off-season – this one will lay the foundation of technique and consistency.

In terms of the deep squat for flexibility, you do not need to worry about his knees. This is an unloaded exercise so there is not an excessive overload and the knee joint is designed to go into full flexion. Think of different cultures where everyone does not sit in chairs all day – you will see people in their 80s sitting in this full squat position at rest. Or look at a toddler just learning to walk, they have a wonderful squat pattern – we train ourselves out of that functional movement pattern – it is safe. Now if your son has some knee pathology that gives him pain with this position, then it may be worth getting a physio assessment. I hope that helps.